Water wand

Abstract

A hand-held, portable dispensing device (i.e. a wand) is described for dispensing a curtain spray pattern of liquid which includes an elongated tubular body having an open end and a closed end. The open end can be connected to a flexible hose or the like for supplying pressurized liquid to the tubular body which has a plurality of spaced openings along its length on one side. The spacing of the discharge openings is determined by the diameter of the openings, and the ratio of the total area of the openings to the inside diameter of the tubular body is in a defined range. The openings can be in a single line or in a plurality of rows, for example, An adjustable control valve and a quick connect coupler can also be included.

Description

CROSS-REFERENCE TO RELATED APPLICATIONS[0001] This application is a continuation-in-part of my earlier application Ser. No. 09 / 465,051, filed Dec. 16, 1999, which claimed the benefit of my Provisional Application No. 60 / 114,560, filed Dec. 31, 1998.FIELD OF THE INVENTION[0002] This invention relates to fluid dispensing devices. More particularly, this invention relates to devices for dispensing liquids such as water, etc.BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION[0003] A variety of devices has been used for dispensing pressurized fluids such as water from a flexible hose. For example, a spray nozzle is commonly attached to the end of the hose. Spray nozzles typically include a pistol grip and a movable trigger which controls the flow rate of water through the nozzle. The nozzle style and design determine the spray pattern of water exiting the nozzle. See, for example, U.S. Pat. No. 5,598,978. Spray wands have also been described, e.g. in U.S. Pat. Nos. 4,982,896 and 5,419,496. Another type of plan...

AI Technical Summary

Benefits of technology

[0008] Having a spray pattern of holes that run in a line down the length (or a portion of the length) of an elongated tube makes this water wand more gentle because, as the wand is waved over delicate plants such as seedlings or annuals, the water only covers a fraction of the plant at one time. This gives the plant enough time to rebound and repel the water into the soil without accumulating so much water on the plant at once that the water weighs the leaflets and flower heads down, causing them to become stuck in the soil. This gentleness also makes the device of the invention ideal for use in watering seedling flats or gardens or grass seed on a slope because the water hitting the soil at any given point is able to soak into the soil gently rather than just erode the soil away.

[0010] Yet another advantage with a spray pattern of holes that run in a single line or multiple lines next to each other is that it greatly facilitates accuracy of watering. In the nursery business, multiple flats of plants are grouped together on tables. Different plants have different water requirements, and the cells around the edge of the flats always dry out before those in the center of the flat. The accuracy required to water just those plants on the edge of the flat or to water only a single flat evenly, without watering the ones that surround it, is important in the industry and cannot be achieved with previous hand held spray heads.

Problems solved by technology

A common problem with watering a flat of flowers or a flower bed is that it is difficult to know how much watering has been done on it without probing through the soil in several areas.

Current shower head or circular hole pattern spray heads disperse the water in such a way that it makes it difficult to evenly water a large area or to water only a square flat of flowers because one must water off the edge of the flat in an attempt to achieve even coverage.

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